There are only 3 areas that I think dedicated ereaders could improve. One is the option of more fonts - this addresses those with problem eyesight. I can read the Tetrachet (sp?) font on my Nook easier than any other, for instance. The recent introduction of lighting in the unit itself - good start, could improve. Finally, the delicacy of ereaders - it doesn't take much to damage them although some seem to be more resistant to damage than others. I'm not expecting the thing to work if it is thrown to concrete, but my kindle was damaged when I only held it slightly more tightly when I tripped and recovered from a potential fall.

The battery life and the ease of reading is just so far ahead of anything else. I don't WANT it to do anything else. Adding other stuff just adds to the weight and takes away from the primary reason for having the item.

The real problem of e-ink readers is not that the technology is inferior or that you can only do one thing with them (though I would suggest both are true), but that they lock you into a single ebook ecosystem. They are essentially DRM delivery vehicles.

The real problem of e-ink readers is not that the technology is inferior or that you can only do one thing with them (though I would suggest both are true), but that they lock you into a single ebook ecosystem. They are essentially DRM delivery vehicles.

I use Sony and don't find I'm locked into a single ebook ecosystem at all... try calibre etc... becomes second nature and you can grab your boks from just about any seller...

I use Sony and don't find I'm locked into a single ebook ecosystem at all... try calibre etc... becomes second nature and you can grab your boks from just about any seller...

This!

I buy from Amazon a lot and simply remove DRM and convert, all within Calibre.

If I did not have that knowledge, then there are a number of ebookstore alternatives that I can use, until I do gain that knowledge. Outside Amazon ePub is the standard.

To be honest though, a number of Kindle users I know do not care about alternative places to buy an ebook. They simply go on to Amazon and buy that ebook and within minutes they are reading it. That alone is certainly the most powerful feature of Amazon's ecosystem whatever other shortcomings there are.

Amazon isn't the only place that offers mobi format books. Smashwords also offers them and so do many others. I don't know if epub is as big as some say, but does it really matter either way? Just as there is room for both pbooks and ebooks isn't there room enough for both mobi and epub formats?

I use Sony and don't find I'm locked into a single ebook ecosystem at all... try calibre etc... becomes second nature and you can grab your boks from just about any seller...

Mobileread members are not a very representative group. By definition we know and care more about the technology behind ebooks than the average person and things like DRM stripping and sideloading are not huge obstacles to us.

A typical Kindle/Kobo/Nook/Sony user is almost never going to buy books elsewhere than the built-in store. He is locked in, for all intents and purposes.